OLD TOWN, Maine (WABI) – Governor Janet Mills proclaimed June as Maine Dairy Month. Today she, along with dairy farmers, students and others began the month with a milk toast at the University of Maine’s Witter Farm.

The gathering brought together dairy businesses, students and researchers at UMaine’s Witter Farm to celebrate and recognize the impact of the industry on the state of Maine.

Also stressing the importance of keeping the industry strong for generations to come.

“That’s vital,” answered UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy. “We’ve got to be able to work through 4-H, we have some students here who are still in high school and all the way up through our graduate programs where we’re able to really understand how to modernize, improve efficiency and keeping that farming industry going.”

The 4-H program through U-Maine looks to teach young students about certain fields through hands-on education.

Mariah Johnson is a current 4-H member of Franklin County. She will be attending UMaine-Farmington in the fall on a pre-vet track.

“I’ve grown up on a farm my entire life so being around the animals and caring for the animals, I just want to be able to be one step ahead and be able to care for them on a deeper level,” commented Johnson.

Johnson says there really aren’t a lot of younger Mainers looking to make a career in the farming field and she sees it firsthand with 4-H.

“It’s very sad seeing that there isn’t as many kids going in as they’re coming out and I think that’s the same with the farm and America’s growing faster and the farms are decreasing and I really think we need to get that next generation into so that we can have a future for ag,” added Johnson.

Mills spoke at the ceremony. Praising the farm for it’s robotic milking system and stressing just how critical new ideas are for improving farming and holding on to the industry.

“Open space is part of our heritage, part of our economy, part of our sense of place here in Maine. So every kind of innovation that keeps this land open and in-use and productive is valuable to us and to generations to come,” said Mills.

Witter Farm and the robotic milking machine is open for tours. Click here for more information.

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Federal data shows that driving under the influence in Massachusetts is a growing problem.

The number of drivers under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication at the time of a fatal crash “increased steadily” from 2020 to 2023 in the Bay State, according to AAA Northeast, citing the latest available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Over the four years, the Commonwealth recorded 141 total such incidents, increasing from 17 in 2020 to 55 in 2023, according to data in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Mary Kate DePamphilis, program director for the Massachusetts chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, says that one death is too many because of impaired driving, and fatality numbers “don’t consider the many others who have been injured; some severely.”

Dozens of community members gathered in Franklin on Thursday for a vigil in memory of the state’s most recent victims of impaired driving: 5-year-old girl Krisha Patel and her 38-year-old mother, Minaben Patel.

Suspect James Blanchard, 21, of Franklin, is accused of drinking Tito’s Vodka straight out of a 1.75-liter bottle behind the wheel when he plowed a pickup truck head-on into a sedan driven by Atulkumar Patel, Krisha’s father and Minaben’s husband, the evening of May 24.

“MADD is heartbroken over the Memorial Day crash that happened in Franklin,” DePamphilis told the Herald. “An innocent child and her mother are no longer with us because of someone’s careless decision to drink and drive.

“Impaired driving crashes are 100% preventable,” she added, “which makes this even more tragic.”

Locally, DePamphilis said her organization is working “every day to prevent these senseless deaths” in partnership with law enforcement, by providing education in schools for children and parents, while “working on strengthening impaired driving legislation.”

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is also “working diligently” to advocate for the federal HALT Act, legislation that would mandate impaired driving prevention technology in all new cars, DePamphilis said.

Reducing the number of impaired driving incidents in the Bay State is also the mission of traffic safety grants awarded through the state Office of Grants and Research. This fiscal year, the program issued more than $12 million in federal funding to nonprofits, municipal police and state agencies to bolster safety for all users of the road.

Data provided to the Herald shows that the Massachusetts State Police conducted 26 sobriety checkpoints and 40 saturation patrols between December 2023 and September 2024, totaling 7,187 hours of enforcement activity and issuing over 11,000 citations and written warnings to drivers.

“Every day, we serve victims of impaired driving, free of charge,” DePamphilis said of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “We are there for families in their darkest days to help navigate through grief and the criminal justice system, eventually getting to a place in their healing journey where they can cope. I urge anyone who has been a victim of impaired driving to reach out to 1-800-MADD-HELP.”